A federal judge will not call a mistrial for a former Calumet Township employee who was convicted in 2018 for her role in a corruption case against the former trustee.

Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen on Thursday denied Ethel Shelton’s request for a mistrial, saying the former Calumet Township employee’s argument that an FBI informant illegally gained access to documents in her office did not invalidate the charge. Shelton was convicted by a federal jury in April 2018 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

“Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in her office,” Van Bokkelen said in his order. “Thus, while the government’s conduct raises red flags, no Fourth Amendment violation occurred.”

Shelton sought a mistrial during her 2018 case, saying that when Stafford Garbutt, a former township employee and informant for the FBI, went into her office to gather documents for the FBI, it was an illegal search. The documents that Garbutt took were used for a search warrant at the Calumet Township office, according to court documents.

“The government contends that defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in her office and that therefore Garbutt’s document hunts were not searches. This court agrees,” Van Bokkelen said, in his order.

No sentencing date has been announced for Shelton, 73.

Shelton was named in a multicount indictment in December 2014 along with Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin; Elgin’s son, Steven Hunter; and Alex Wheeler, alleging the four committed conspiracy to defraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest service wire fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion.

The charges say the four used township employees and offices to run political campaigns, according to court documents.

Elgin had additional charges of attempted extortion; false statement to an agency of the United States; and two counts failure to file a tax return.

In 2017, Elgin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and willful failure to file a tax return, according to court documents, and Hunter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud.

Elgin was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison, according to court documents, and Hunter was given a year of probation.

Hunter was found not guilty by a jury in April 2018.